Highlights

• Xiaomi has moved ahead the launch of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra.
• The Xiaomi 17 Ultra has been teased to come in black and white colour options.
• There is no secondary rear display in the Xiaomi 17 Ultra.

Xiaomi has officially confirmed that it will launch the Xiaomi 17 Ultra in China on December 25. This is earlier than Xiaomi’s usual launch schedule for its Ultra flagship smartphones. Along with the launch date, Xiaomi has also revealed the design, giving us our first clear look at this camera-focused premium phone.

Usually, Xiaomi launches its Ultra models in China at the beginning of the next year. For example, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra was launched in late February, just before MWC 2025 in Barcelona, and went on sale in March. By moving the launch to December, Xiaomi appears to be getting ahead of competitors and taking advantage of the Christmas holiday season to gain more attention.

In terms of design, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra follows a familiar look but with a cleaner and simpler approach. The phone keeps the large circular rear camera module, which has become a signature of the Ultra series. The Leica branding is placed at the center of the camera module, with the word “Ultra” written on the top left. The camera bump looks slightly smaller this time, and unlike the Xiaomi 17 Pro models, there is no secondary rear display.

Xiaomi has currently teased the Xiaomi 17 Ultra in classic black and white color options.

One small but noticeable change is the new circular volume buttons, which are now split into separate keys. While subtle, this design choice brings back memories of older smartphones like the iPhone 4 series and some Sony Xperia models.

Another important change is the move to a flat display with rounded corners. This design trend is becoming popular across the industry as it offers better grip, fewer accidental touches, and improved durability.

As expected, the camera is the main highlight of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra. Xiaomi is promoting the phone as its next-generation night photography flagship, and the camera hardware strongly supports this claim.

The Xiaomi 17 Ultra is said to feature a 1-inch Omnivision OV50X main camera sensor with LOFIC technology. This technology helps improve dynamic range, especially in challenging lighting situations like night city photos or fireworks photography, where bright and dark areas exist together.

The biggest upgrade is a new 200MP Samsung periscope telephoto camera with Leica APO certification. This camera is expected to deliver much better results for long-distance zoom, macro shots, and overall image clarity. These are areas where other Ultra flagships from Samsung and Vivo have also been focusing heavily.

On the performance side, rumours suggest that the Xiaomi 17 Ultra will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor. It is also expected to pack a large 6,800mAh battery, with support for 100W wired charging and 80W wireless charging.

Pricing may be the most debated part. Due to rising component costs, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra is expected to start at around CNY 6,999 (approximately ₹89,000). This would be about CNY 500 more expensive than its predecessor. With this price increase, the phone will directly compete with premium flagship models from Samsung and Apple.

However, if Xiaomi delivers noticeable improvements in telephoto zoom performance and low-light photography, many buyers may find the higher price reasonable.